The attached list by Golf Digest is interesting to say the least. I couldn't see who wrote the article.
This is getting a bit ahead of a project Ran and I are working on (plans to complete it in July), but we have been working on a list of the greatest architects of all time, to be posted here later this summer. Intitial plans are to put out a list of the top 25 of all time.
The Golf Digest list is obviously flawed in many ways, as they only focus on their list of top 100 courses in the US as a qualifier. Many designers, including some on their list, did some of their best work outside the US.
The only current world top 100 list belongs to Golf Magazine. That is a list we have considered when putting together our list of top architects of all time. We also are working to develop a "depth of work" score, that would include how many courses each architect has built that were of say a "Doak 7 or higher" quality. But, Ran and I thought it would be a good idea to ask for feedback from the participants of this site as to what factors you believe should be considered in attempting to put together a list such as this. Ideas that we have discussed are:
*quality of sites they got to work on
*did they get the most out of their sites?
*strategic merits of their golf holes
*influence their work had on golf architecure
*did their work "stand the test of time"?
What other factors do you all think should be considered, calculated and attempted to score?
We did not plan to make a post like this until mid June, but since this Golf Digest Top Architects list was posted, it seemed the right time to ask for feedback as we work on this project. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.
TS